Tom Newman aka Acid Pimp & Poker, has been an integral part of Detroit’s electronic music scene since the very early 1990’s. While the Detroit legends of the 1980’s were on tour overseas, returning home only once or twice per year, it was DJs like Tom Newman headlining the legendary underground warehouse parties that are still revered and imitated today. Taking on alias’s such as Acid Pimp and Poker, Tom is responsible for classic releases on Cheshire, early D-Records, as well as new releases on labels such as Snork Enterprises.
Tom was exposed to the beginning of Detroit techno and early Chicago acid house through DJs such as Ken Collier, who’s club Heaven opened at 3am, and Richie “Rich” Hawtin, who had an industrial night every Sunday at a basement club called The Shelter. By 1993 Tom had one of the most impressive collections of underground acid records in the city, and was convinced by legendary promoter Jason Huvaere of Paxahau / Movement to DJ a party with Stacey Pullen at the now legendary 1217 venue. In 1994 Tom released his first of many classic records on Cheshire under the moniker Acid Pimp, which had exclusive distribution through Dan Bell’s Seventh City.
By the late 1990’s, Tom was headlining events every weekend across the US and Canada. It was around this time when Tom was approached by Rich Hawtin with two other friends to form D-Records as a sub-label of M-nus. Having the opportunity to perform at Tresor Berlin in 2001, Tom became inspired to form Friction Detroit, which was the only all techno club night in Detroit and hosted local and international headliners including Chris Liebing, Ben Sims, Regis to name a few.
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In Chicago Frankie Vega is most known for joining friends in pushing the limits of excitement of nightlife tradition. Thrill seekers out for a night on the town wont have to look hard to find Mr Vega behind the decks turning levels up or come to the realize they re standing on the thunderground of an event he and friends are hosting! His event production days began in the early 90’s and were born in the basement of Chicago’s legendary Trax records warehouse. This sparked a series of wild nights that rocked through the 90’s from inside of warehouses, lofts, roller rinks, biker bars, expo centers and other various venues. After a 5 year hiatus Frankie and sharing friends aimed high to further electronic music influence within Chicago’s techno scene through producing the sound reinforced & technically aggressive “In Your System” parties.
His connection to dance music began age 15 through his first job at Chicago based record shop Hot Jams. From then to present, Frankie can safely say he has personally sold over a million vinyl records. Mr Vega worked his way into becoming one of America’s most known record pushing sales man. Starting out at Chicago based UC Music, he connected with hundreds of record shops in the states and launched record label Bluleine Records. The Blueline label served as a launch pad for productions by a long list of great techno artists. Blueline put forth first releases by Tim Xavier and vast selling tracks from working folks like Frankie Bones, Woody Mcbride, Glenn Wilson, Dietrich Schoenemann and many others… Vega kept the record push going through the the first half of the Y2K decade from the Chicago Distribution outlet known as Sole.
At show time Vega combines the modern edge of lap top use with rooted dj technique – still utilizing turntables to aim, please and work dance floors into a sweaty mess! His works to score big as a crowd favorite with multi style dj sets, blending tracks ranging from Chicago House, minimal, deep techno to acid tracks while offering up handshakes, hugs and smiles. Spare time is spent working up tunes in the studio – offered through his imprints and Tora Tora Tora, Communique, Addon, Kompute Musik and more… – keep year ear pointed in the direction of beatport.com.
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Deeply rooted in the Detroit music scene, Ernie Guerra aka Erno embodies the varied styles of music the city is known to produce. Dabbling in nothing and involved with everything, Ernie has been DJing for over 10 years but also produces. His Dj sets are like disco and classic house having a love affair with techno. His love of dance music comes through as he spans nearly 4 decades of music. The backbone is funk but is adapted to modern day dance music to create a continuous experience, psychedelic even. Ernie is a forefront member of Tour Detroit, a legendary summer party series. Also a music collector, he co-hosts a weekly straight vinyl, crate digging night called Slow Jams, which is 6 years and running.
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As an artist, Uun has quickly made a name for himself in the North American underground techno scene. His deep, hard, and heady style relies both on smooth blends as well as complex layering. When DJ’ing, his style ranges from the depths of dub to the broken dystopian soundscapes linking his own sound to the greater techno audience.
Uun’s releases with labels Mekanism Records, Dark and Sonorous Recordings, Reloading Records, Dystopian Rhythm, Teggno Records, and work with producers Sutter Cane, Brian Burger, and Andrei Morant has garnered attention from the likes of Chris Liebing, Joseph Capriati, Octave, Tom Hades, Dubfire, and many more. Keep up with new music by Uun on Soundcloud.
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This week we have an exclusive Blank Code podcast from Denver’s techno producer/DJ Mick Finesse. Mick has released his music on labels such as Perc Trax, Emote Music, Broken20, Broken Mind Recordings, Emetic and Prosthetic Pressings. You can follow new music by Mick Finesse on Facebook and Soundcloud.
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Sebastián Veytia remains both a powerful presence and a driving force behind the underground techno scene in Guadalajara, Mexico. Since the early 1990´s, he brought the previously unknown genre to the attention of the city’s masses through several radio shows comprised of industrial music to techno. Later Sebastián co-founded Nopal Beat Records, key label responsible in bringing the work of Mexican artists and their music into the country’s limelight and reaching corners of the world from China to Venezuela.
Driven always by his passion for Dj’ing, Veytia quickly rose to prominence when he moved from behind the scenes to center stage. His vast experience and profound insight of electronic music can be heard clearly in his sets, flawless selection and uncanny flow. Follow Sebastián’s new music on Soundcloud and Facebook.
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Official announcement of our upcoming release; Circle 3 EP by Mutate with remixes by Luis Flores, Mike Parker & Project 313. This will be the 9th Blank Code vinyl release and 3rd in the Circle EP series. The EP will release later this year on both vinyl and digital [mp3/wav] formats.
Los Angeles native Danny Astle, aka Template, has been an underdog role player in the techno scene for the past few years. He manages In:volve, a group of DJ’s and series of events in LA that have played host to the likes of Cell Injection, Raiz, Paul Birken, Luis Flores, Kris Wadsworth, Santiago Salazar, Black Asteroid, and Andrei Morant. He also co-operates an up and coming record label known as TXTRL, which will feature original material from label members and remixes from international artists that have a serious influence on the TXTRL sound.
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